The bet
by Enide Dear
Summary: Cid and Vincent made a bet. Vincent kind of regrets it...


Title: The bet

Author: Enide Dear

Rating: Nc - 17 just some swearing and a Crack of Doom

Pairing: Vincent/Cid implied Rude/Reno

Summary: Vincent lost a bet

Authors' note: Ramblings, again

Feedback: Will be adored and squeed over

The door to Tifa's bar was kicked almost off its hinges as a dark and red menace tore through it, pushed heedlessly through the crowd of Avalanche members and Turks without a second glance, jumped up on the bar desk and started to fumble with his pants.

Seconds later a helplessly laughing pilot came stumbling into the bar shouting:

"Vince! Vince, don't ya trust me?"

"No, I don't! You tricked me!" Vincent pointed a threatening claw at him. "I don't know how you made me agree on this!"

"Well, I got ya drunk for starters., and then yer precious word of honour did the rest for me."

Spluttering incoherently like a wet cat, Vincent glared and started pulling at his pants again.

"Ummm…Vincent?" Tifa said a bit shocked. "There are other people here, you know."

Vincent blinked at her and first now seemed to realise that he was indeed the centre of quite a lot of amused and very curious attention. Blushing, he swung his cloak around him with one hand, trying to open his pants with the other in its shelter.

"What is going on?" Reno asked curious as Cid joined him and Rude at the bar, just a few steps from where Vincent were muttering and turning inside his cloak.

"He lost a bet." Cid grinned. "So I made him get a tattoo. On his ass."

"On my…hip, damn you!" Came the muffled answer from inside the cloak, but it was all but drowned in the chorus of laughter.

"The hell kind of bet was that?!" Reno grinned.

A very angry and flustered face looked up from inside the cloak, and red eyes cut Cid short.

"If you tell them, I swear they'll never find your body, chief."

"Ahh….never ya mind, Reno." Cid choked on his whiskey.

"And he wouldn't let me see the motif he chose, and he wouldn't let me use a mirror to see it until we came here!"

"Well, what is it?" Curious, Reno tried to lift the cloak to try and peer under it, but squealed as a metal-clad foot pounced on his fingertips.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Hurt, the young Turk sucked at his fingers and waved them in the air. "I was only trying to help!"

"Do you have a death wish?" Rude grabbed for his partner and pulled him away from the struggling form in the cloak, casting wary glances at Cid who thankfully seemed not to have noticed.

"It's too dark," Vincent complained. "I can't see. Can anyone borrow me a lighter or something?"

"Ye'll just put yerself on fire, Vince. We've drunk enough to make our breath inflammable. Stop being so shy!" Cid grabbed a handful of cloak and tore it away.

Suddenly exposed Vincent blushed fiercely as every eye in the bar was turned towards him, but there were a few disappointed catcalls; nothing but a narrow sliver of pale skin could be seen between the black shirt and dark trousers.

Vincent balked, but curiosity won out; he leaned forward towards the huge barroom mirror, twisting to see his marked flesh. He studied it for quite some time.

"It's…not as bad as I thought." He finally admitted grudgingly. "It's actually not bad at all."

"See? I told ya to trust me." Cid beamed up at his lover.

"Well? Well? What is it?" Reno squirmed and wriggled in Rude's grip, trying to get free and see.

"It's…it's a heart. With feathery white wings. And…umm…it says 'Cid' in the middle…" Vincent blushed again at the whooping calls all over the room. "I thought it would be something crude, like 'Cid was here' or 'Entrance' or something…." Vincent mumbled, studying the red and white tattoo again. "This is…romantic."

Cid jumped up on the bar desk next to him, and put an arm around his shoulder, the other hand gently fingering the still tender flesh.

"So ya forgive me?"

"No! I still say you tricked me, and it hurt like Hell!" Vincent sulked angrily, and Cid rolled his eyes.

"It didn't hurt that damned much, ya sissy!"

"Oh, really? And how would you know?"

"I wouldn't ask ya ta do something I haven't done myself, would I?" With a quick motion Cid unbuckled his jeans and let them fall carelessly to the desk, and then pulled down his underwear, exposing quite a lot of hard smooth muscle and a red heart with black dragon wings and the word 'Vince' in the middle.

Vincent blinked, startled.

"When…when did you do that?"

"Couple of weeks ago."

"But…how did you keep it, um, hidden from me?" He blushed a bit.

"Lots and lots of twisting and turning. And ya know, that blindfold wasn't for the fun of it. Well, not *just* for the fun of it, anyway." Cid grinned and started to pull his clothes back again, much to the dismay of Reno, who had had the show very close and enjoyed every second of it.

"So, wanna go somewhere else and show it to me again?" Cid jumped down the desk and Vincent, still not certain if he was flattered, angry or totally in love, but quite certain of a few other feelings he had, followed a second after.

"Sure."

They hurried out of the room, Cid waving at and Vincent ignoring the various calls.

"That was damned cute," Reno pouted, "why don't you do that for me?"

"Because I already have a tattoo on my ass." Rude smiled. "It says 'Exit only'."

"Hahaha. Very funny."

"But I got something else for you."

"Really? What?"

"The knowledge of what Inn those two are staying at, and the keys to the room next door." Rude dangled a set of keys, and Reno's eyes suddenly got very big. He smiled wickedly.

"I know I don't say this often enough Rude, but there's no other partner I'd rather be working under."

"Working with, you mean." Tifa added.

"Yeah, whatever gets you through the night, darling."


End file.
